Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. Today we'll show you the third and final map that will make its appearance in the patch. For this map, made by betatester DarkPepe and developer Fenring, we'll take a slight detour from Africa and go to the Mediterranean island of Crete. Unlike Sfakia, this map shows the airborne invasion of Crete. The Invasion of Crete is a remake of the original Crete 1941 from Forgotten Hope 0.7.

"Germany's war with Greece started when its ally Italy invaded the country in October of 1940. The Italian morale was low, and the invasion rushed and poorly planned. As a result the Italian armies failed to make much progress and in November the Greek armies pushed the Italians over the pre-war borders. Italy's failure forced Germany to intervene, as Commonwealth troops would be reinforcing the Greek armies. With the preparations of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, well underway it was imperative that the southern flank should be secure."

"On April 6th Germany invaded Greece and less than 3 weeks later it surrendered. The island of Crete however was still in allied hands. As allied bombers from Crete could reach the Romanian oil fields the island had to be taken. The German plan was to take Crete's airfields with paratroopers and glider infantry. Once under German control, more troops and heavier equipment could be landed there to take the rest of the island. So, on May 20th 1941, the airborne invasion of Crete codenamed 'Operation Merkur' began."

"The German Fallschirmjäger suffered appalling casualties during the initial landings. Their landing procedure involved an acrobatic roll upon landing, so it was not possible for the soldiers to carry their weapons during the descent. As a result their weapons were held in a container, which was dropped by the plane. Once on the ground the soldiers had to find the container and get their weapons and ammo out, but often this had to be done under fire from the allied troops."

"With the capture of Maleme airfield on May 21st the first reinforcements could be landed and by the evening of the same day the first Gebirgsjäger started arriving. Despite the casualties suffered, the Germans managed to hold their ground and on May 27th the commonwealth forces were forced to start evacuating the island."

We've also got another Forgotten Hope 2 community advertisement today.

History is War is a German Forgotten Hope 2 community, which features an extremely detailed ranking system, modeled on the real Royal Army and Wehrmacht. We try to re-enact the great battles of World War 2 as interesting as possible, with the aid of variable and challenging tasks in which the effort of every single soldier is significant. You can even create and play your own custom kit and you will be able to gain lots of medals for different services. We already have three Forgotten Hope 2 servers, including our own Teamspeak server. So, if you are an ambitious Forgotten Hope 2 player, interested in the most realistic warfare possible, without getting an actual bullet in your chest? Then this is the community for you! You can visit our website here: www.history-is-war.net.

And finally, a Forgotten Hope 0.7 tournament advertisement.

Forgotten Honor Americana is proud to present to you Americana FH1 Campaign #3: Ending the Silence.

101st Airborne Division vs 17th Panzergrenadier Division

Forgotten Honor is opening it's third Americana campaign to finally explore a theater not yet visited by the best and brightest Forgotten Hope tournament on the web, the Western Front '44-'45. The prospect for Campaign #3 is the best yet for FHT Americana, and consists of a full team of map designers, coders, modders, and admins. The theater of war will be based in France and Germany, from Normandy to the heart of the Reich and to the end of the war, taking place from June of 1944 to May of 1945. The emphasis of this front by FHT is put primarily on the aspect of the "Boy's Toys" war, with the latest in conventional and advanced weaponry at the time, mass produced and deployed heavily on the line.

The campaign, backed by the full force of the professional and highly experienced development team of Forgotten Honor, promises to offer explosive, fun, and engaging game play, all with the tried and true Forgotten Honor formula: organization. Tactics and team play will reign supreme in the field of Battle, with detailed and complex organization, chains of command, individual armies, divisions, units, mottos, citations, insignias, ranks, rewards, medals, ribbons, and a plethora of intense unit-cohesive warfare. Commanding teams are created from the best and brightest of the community; strategies and battle plans formulated to beat the best in the surest ways possible. Even the newest recruit has the opportunity to advance through the numerous ranks to achieve a status envied by the many and attained by the few.

Forgotten Honor upholds it's expectations and standards for a grand tournament experience that will be fun and rewarding for everyone, so what are you waiting for?

Partake in the Liberation of Western Europe and the final defeat of the Nazi Empire, or join with the axis in the final defense of the Reich for an end worthy of honor and glory. Partake in Americana Campaign #3 and become a part of history. Enlist now.

Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. Today we've got the second ingame preview of our Normandy theater, featuring the Panther tank. We're also showing some Italian armour that will make its appearance in the upcoming patch.

When the western Allies first encountered the German Panther tank in Anzio in 1944, they assumed it was another heavy tank which could not be produced in great numbers, quite like the Tiger tank. When they landed in Normandy, six months later, they were shocked to find that nearly half the German tanks were Panthers. Its 80mm thick sloped frontal armour was so strong that the regular Allied M4 Sherman tank was unable to penetrate it from virtually any range. Combined with its 75mm high-velocity gun, this made the Panther a very powerful tank.

The Panther in the screenshots is an Ausf. A, the most common variant in Normandy. As you can see, we made a version with and a version without sideskirts. The Panther was made by Toddel and coded by ctz. The map it's on is a work in progress version of Mr Cheese's Operation Charnwood, of which you've already seen an ingame screenshot in the February 27th update.

The other items for today's news are the 2 new Italian tanks. Both tanks were made by Montoya for Forgotten Hope 0.7 and they were ported to Forgotten Hope 2 by Gunnie.

When Italy went to war in June 1940, its tanks were inferior to practically anything the British or Germans had. The Carro Armato M13/40, when introduced in October 1940, didn't change this. Although it was clearly a better tank than its predecessor the M11/39, it was poorly armoured, quickly caught fire when hit and usually had no radio. Nevertheless, over 700 M13/40s were shipped to North Africa to fight the British. Dispite all its shortcomings the only major differences between the M13/40 and its successor, the M14/41, wre the engine and frontal armour. More than 2000 M14/41s were produced during the war.

During Operation Compass a lot of M13/40s were captured by the allies and because of the lack of armour in fighting shape on the allied side, they were pressed into service with British tank batallions. When the Germans advanced back into Libya in early 1941 many allied M13/40s ended up with the Australians in Tobruk. Some of these tanks had kangaroos painted on them to identify them as Australian.

To help the Italian M13/40s a number of assault guns were produced, one of them being the Semovente L.40 da 47/32. This vehicle was based on the L6/40 chassis and first saw combat during the Battle of Gazala in 1942. Although inferior to its British counterparts, like most Italian tanks, it was capable of taking on the lighter British tanks. 280 Semovente L.40s were built.

That's all for this week, but be sure to come back next time for another update. Until then, feel free to visit our IRC channel and our public forums to discuss this update and other news.

Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. Today we're showing the second map that will be featured in the upcoming patch. This map, made by Bizness, is about the battle for the Tunisian Mareth Line, in March 1943.

"After the German defeat at El Alamein, Rommel's plan was no doubt to retreat back into Libya and set up another defensive line, closer to his supply ports. However, when the allies landed in Morocco and Algeria during Operation Torch, these plans were cut short and Rommel was forced to retreat into Tunisia and attempt to defeat the two allied armies seperately."

"The first clash between armies in Tunisia was at the Kasserine Pass, where the experienced German-Italian forces managed to inflict great casualties upon the unexperienced American soldiers. However, the allied army remained intact and was even advancing in the north. This forced the axis on the defensive, leaving them no choice but to dig in along the Mareth Line, awaiting the arrival of the British 8th Army."

"As the British were preparing their assault of the Mareth Line, Rommel made one last attack, aimed at disrupting British preperations and delaying their assault. The attack was a large failure however, as the German tanks rode straight into a position of well-concealed British anti-tank guns. The order to retreat was given the same day and it marks the last battle of Rommel in Africa. On March 10th he returned to Germany, never to see Africa again."

"On March 19th the attack on the Mareth Line began with Operation Pugilist. The 50th Infantry Division managed to penetrate the line near Zarat, but on the 22nd a German counterattack took back most of the bridgehead. At the same time the allies attacked the Tebaga Gap. Here, the fighting raged on for four days, but the allies were unable to make much progress against the stubborn German defenders. Operation Pugilist failed in that it did not break the German defence of the Mareth line, but it did provide a good start for the next attack."

"Operation Supercharge II was launched on March 26th. After a large bombardment the allied tanks went in. This time they did make significant progress and by nightfall they had created a gap in the axis line of defence. The next morning the German 15th Panzer Division counterattacked, but failed to stop the allied advance. By the evening of March 27th the axis forces had withdrawn from the Mareth Line."

That's all for this week, but be sure to come back next time for another update. Until then, feel free to visit our IRC channel and our public forums to discuss this update and other news.

Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. We've got an exciting announcement to make today. I'm sure you've all heard about the upcoming battlefield title 'Battlefield: Heroes'. We were all a bit sceptic about it at first, but after seeing the trailer we all agreed that this game looks fun - and fun is exactly what Forgotten Hope needs more of at the moment. That is why we have decided to move to this new engine and create Forgotten Hope: Heroes!

Needless to say, we wouldn't give you an update unless we had something to show you. Ever since we decided to switch engines our resident artist McGibs has been working continuously on these concept drawings.

Our first release will feature the US army fighting the Germans in France. Of course, we will keep our mod in the same style as Battlefield: Heroes, as you will be able to tell from the concept art. The following drawings are concepts of the US and German playermodels:

Finally, McGibs also made concept drawings for the Sherman tank and various German and American weapons. Unlike Battlefield: Heroes, which will only have one tank and one plane per army, Forgotten Hope: Heroes will eventually feature the complete allied and axis arsenals of weapons and vehicles.

Needless to say, making a new mod will require the complete dedication of the entire development team, so we regret to announce that will not be releasing the Normandy theater for Forgotten Hope 2. The patch however, which has been in development for some time, is nearly ready and will still be released as planned.

That's all for this week, but be sure to come back next time for another update. Until then, feel free to visit our IRC channel and our public forums to discuss this update and other news.

April fool!

Since there seems to be some confusion with some people we just wanted to say yes, this was indeed an April fools' joke. Forgotten Hope will not be moving to the Battlefield: Heroes engine and we're still working on FH2. We hope you enjoyed the joke and didn't make yourself look too silly.